The recently launched United Nations Road Safety Fund (UNRSF) 2024 Annual Report spotlights how countries, including three iRAP partner projects in Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Senegal, are taking action to narrow gaps in their national road safety systems to prevent road traffic deaths and injuries.

The launch event on 2 June, entitled ‘Shaping the Course: Building Road Safety Systems in Low- and Middle Income Countries’, was part of a four-day Road Safety Week in Bangkok organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the UNRSF. The Week brought together over 200 governments, civil society, and private sector actors from across 45 countries to discuss progress and best practices toward halving road traffic deaths by 2030, in line with SDG target 3.6.

Now in its sixth year, the UN Road Safety Fund has grown into a global partnership supporting 52 projects in 94 countries, implemented by 18 UN agencies.

The 2024 report highlights tangible system-level results in high-impact areas such as data collection, upgraded helmet standards, safer street design for walking and cycling, and speed management. Featured iRAP partner projects include:

• The ‘Safe and Inclusive Road Design in Central Asia’ Project which is harmonising and modernising road design standards in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (see page 22);
• Vietnam’s ‘Creating Safe School Zones to Protect Children’ Project (see page 13);
• The ‘Senegal Ten Step Plan for Safer Infrastructure Project’, which is supporting training of the national road safety agency to assess and upgrade the safety of the country’s entire road infrastructure network, and the May launch of SnRAP (see page 53);
• And plans for the new generation of UNRSF projects which will support speed management legislation and infrastructure improvements for pedestrians and cyclists in countries such as Brazil, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iran, Jordan, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Oman, Pakistan, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This includes reviewing outdated legal frameworks, expanding iRAP Star Ratings, and improving enforcement through more accurate speed measurement systems.

Opening the launch, UNRSF Head Nneka Henry emphasised the decision to host the event in Bangkok as a deliberate shift to ground global commitments in the regions most affected by road traffic deaths and injuries. “This region is not only facing a major road safety challenge, but also demonstrating courageous leadership and innovation in responding to it,” she said.

The launch featured high-level remarks by the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt, who underscored both the achievements and the gaps that remain. “This year’s report tells a bittersweet story. We are seeing real progress, but the pace is still too slow. More than one million lives are lost on the roads every year. Without stronger laws, sustained investment, and shared responsibility, we risk losing momentum and more lives. Road safety is not a technical issue; it is a matter of dignity and justice.”

The event also included testimonials from key beneficiary countries and partners including iRAP’s Acting CEO Greg Smith (iRAP), Luiz Ottavio Miranda from Brazil’s Ministry of Health, Saalaev Nazarbek from the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Kyrgyzstan, and Hideaki Takaishi, Executive Chief Engineer at Honda Motors.

Other profiled projects include in Brazil, a unified crash data and enforcement system which has led to a 73 per cent increase in traffic fines and a one-third reduction in deaths; in Rwanda, the establishment of Africa’s first UN-standard helmet testing lab which is enabling the country to enforce safer helmet import regulations; and in Colombia, local communities’ redesign of 20 high-risk streets.

Images credit: UNRSF